Solar Power - Past, Present, and Future

We are currently in the midst of a green revolution: it seems like everyone is talking about sustainability, organics, recycling, and many other efficient and earth-friendly topics including solar energy. The truth is, solar power has been a topic of interest for scientists since the 1800s when it was realized that sunlight could produce electrical energy.

In 1887 Heinrich Rudolf Hertz discovered what became commonly known as the photoelectric effect; in 1901 Nikola Tesla described it further. It was not until 1905 that Albert Einstein published a Nobel Prize-winning scientific paper which explained the photoelectric effect in detail. The photoelectric effect is the basis of photovoltaic solar power: photoelectrons are emitted from matter after the absorption of energy from visible light.

Although the future has yet to be written, already science is working on a way to utilize solar power from satellites in space where the sun never stops shining. Massive amounts of solar energy could be harnessed with solar panels in orbit and then transported to locations on earth using safe, low-powered microwaves. The technology is there, it is simply a matter of figuring out a cost-effective way to get these satellites into space!